Matt Ortega

If people didn’t find the electoral system in this country to be a joke already, television studios are determined to make sure they do in the future.

Hollywood and Washington executives are pursuing an “American Idol”-like television show in which contestants would seek to persuade a celebrity panel that they should be the next president of the United States.

The winner of the nationwide contest would be announced after the Democratic and Republican conventions, and the show would encourage viewers to vote for its nominee as a write-in candidate next November.

These people plan to expand the format of the show to include down-ticket races.

One of the biggest problems with the race for the White House, Wilson said, is that the younger generation is not excited about it.

“The candidates don’t connect with the youth of America,” Wilson said.

“Voice Your Choice America” is looking to entertain and engage young voters in the hopes they will be the political candidates of tomorrow.

Wilson says he doesn’t want to stop with the presidential race, claiming that he would expand the show’s format to include gubernatorial and Senate races in subsequent years.

The show’s premise — young people are not engaged in politics — is weak on its face. (The producers, apparently, haven’t seen the rising turnout numbers among youth voters in recent elections.)

Check out some of the people rumored to host:

It’s not clear who will host the show if a network picks it up. Some names that have been floated include Jerry Seinfeld, Bill Cosby, Will Smith and conservative pundit Armstrong Williams, who is vice president of Two Harbors Productions.

Two former sit-com stars that are beyond their prime, a television-turned-movie star, and a political pundit that, if their thesis is correct and young people are not engaged, targeted viewers have no idea who he is.